 |
| Genius fake paperback image by Todd Alcott |
Each week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares some posts from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. The latest shared post is another chapter from my eventual book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), this time celebrating David Bowie's "Life On Mars?".
An infinite number of songs can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Long before this Bowie piece was intended as a chapter in GREM!--indeed, long before I had written any chapters in that series, and long before I decided to turn the series into a book--it began as commentary written to accompany the emailed playlist for the January 17th, 2016 episode of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. Bowie's death the previous week hit me harder than I would have deemed plausible beforehand. Timing, I guess. My daughter Meghan had recently begun a college semester in London, and it would be the longest I would go without being able to see her. I felt untethered, emotional. I needed to do something.
I needed to write.
I had been a hobbyist freelance writer for about 22 years, 1984-2006, but I lost interest and ceased pursuing it. I never quite stopped writing, but I wasn't committed to anything, and largely refrained from trying. On 1/18/2016, I looked at what I'd just written, this open letter to a departed rock star, and decided it needed an audience beyond the folks who read the TIRnRR playlists. That need resulted in the rash decision to begin a daily blog, initially called CC Says, changed within a few days to Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). My open letter to David Bowie inaugurated this blog on January 18th of 2016, five years ago this week. I haven't missed a day since. This is Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) # 1936.
Reaction prompts action. Spurred by whatever it was that spurred me, I've written more over the last five years than I wrote in any five-year period prior to this. I even sold some fiction, for the first time ever. I have goals, some of which may elude my grasp. But I'm active and engaged.
And I'm writing a book.
For the Bowie chapter in The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), I took my open letter to David Bowie and added a discussion of the circumstances that made me write it. It appears near the end of the book, its sentiment and personal emotion connected informally to chapters about The Grateful Dead, Stevie Wonder, and Eytan Mirsky, among others. It's the culmination of a process that began when I saw that planet Earth was blue...and there was something I could do.
That process continues. I invite you to read about its origin. A Greatest Record Ever Made! tribute to David Bowie and "Life On Mars?" is the latest Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.
TIP THE BLOGGER: CC's Tip Jar!
You can support this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon: Fund me, baby!
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download
Volume 3: download
Volume 4: CD or download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1)will contain 165 essays about 165 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1). My weekly Greatest Record Ever Made! video rants can be seen in my GREM! YouTube playlist. And I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl.
No comments:
Post a Comment